Valdemar's Hope
by Darkfire1
Summary: Trunks and Goten accidentally get transported to Valdemar. What disaster is in the future that a Saiyan would be Chosen? Rated for language and adult themes. Some yaoi refference. REVISED!
1. Foreword

FOREWORD 

This story has been revised and reformatted to HTML. If you find spelling, grammar or historical errors, please let me know! Also, I'm in the process of drawing this story as a fan comic. I'd love to get your comments on that as well! You can find it at in the story section. 


	2. The Experiment

_Disclaimer: I do not own either Dragonball Z and related concepts or Valdemar and related concepts. DBZ is the property of Akira Toriyama, Toei Animation and FUNimation. Valdemar is owned by Mercedes Lackey and DAW Books. However, the original characters Eliza Ashkevron, Jenfa, Kila, Tanitha, Jordin, Mikal (Sparky), Phebe, Halen, Odin, Felix, Loki, and Itan, as well as the plot of this story in all of it's chapters save for some quotes from both DBZ and the Valdemar series, are mine. _

A/N: Whew! That was the longest disclaimer I've ever written. The rest of them will be my more traditional "Bite me!" Okay, there's going to be a lot of stuff from the Valdemar series in here, but with plenty of space for explanations. If you don't understand something then feel free to e-mail me or to put your question in the review, but since Trunks and Goten have just as much clue as the rest of you DBZ fans, I have to explain everything to them, too, so the explanation just might end up being in the story. 

/.../ means telepathy and will be used like quotation marks. 

____________________________  
CHAPTER 1: THE EXPERIMENT  
____________________________ 

_There have always been mages in the world. Some have been weak. Others have been beacons of power that could destroy entire ranges of mountains. But what of other worlds? Are there other places among the stars that bear life? If other sentient peoples exist beyond our own world, do they have their own magery, and if so what differences in their techniques would there be, or in their culture? Would they be stronger than our greatest mages, or weaker than the least hedge wizard? We may never know this. However, it is interesting to contemplate.  
~From the musings of Herald-Chronicler Eliza Ashkevron_

Heralds Jenfa and Kila stood with their Companions as Herald-Mage Tanitha made ready to attempt a new Gating technique. The two had only agreed to maintain silence if they were allowed to come with her as a back up. Jenfa was a very strong Mindspeaker and could get help if they needed it, and Kila wasn't about to let the two of them get into any trouble without her. 

Tanitha was an innovator. She enjoyed playing around with spells, coming up with new ways to do things. She got along great with the crowd at the Compass Rose, the hangout for all the engineering students among the Blues, because she thought along the same lines as they did. 

This new technique of hers could very well get her killed. Gate energies were not something to be taken lightly. The story of how Vanyel got his powers was never very far in the back of the minds of the Herald-Mages of this day, especially since Elspeth had gone through all the old Chronicles to find the stories after the spell that had kept people from thinking about magic in Valdemar had been lifted. His life-bonded, Tylendel, had used Van's personal energies to fuel the Gate instead of his own so that he would still be able to fight on the other side. When more powerful Herald-Mages came through the Gate and tried to take it down to keep it from draining off all of Van's energy, something went wrong and the power was dragged through his mind, blasting open every Gift channel he had. He became the most powerful Herald-Mage in the Circle, but the price of that power had been the loss of his life-bonded, a loss that he did not overcome until he bonded again to his reincarnated form, a Bard named Stefen. 

This was why you didn't mess with Gates. They had a tendency to try and eat you alive if you couldn't control them, almost as if they were alive. Tanitha knew this, but she was certain of her theories. She was sure that if she did this then the power of the Gate would be ten times as powerful, and there was no telling how far it would reach. 

Kila was nervous about this whole business. Her Gift was twinging, warning her that this wasn't a good idea. Foresight was a terrible thing, especially when it was as nebulous as this. She wished that for once her visions would be clear, but unless there was going to be mass destruction and death, then she didn't get more than brief flashes and vague feelings of uneasiness. She said, "Tanitha, are you sure about this?" 

"Hey, nothing's going to happen! I'm sure that this will work." The young Herald-Mage wasted no more time and began pulling from her self, building the basis for her new kind of Gate. They were in an open field, far from other people, just in case something did go wrong. They would have used one of the heavily shielded workrooms in the palace, but Gates didn't work very well under those kinds of shields, so they had to do this instead. 

Tanitha's concept was simple. She took energy from a nearby node and memorized it, making it her own, adding it to her store of personal energy. Normally the energy for a Gate _had_ to come from the mage, but this was just as good. She was surprised that no one had ever thought of this possibility before. As the Gate started to pull from her, she took more and more from the node, feeding it into a frenzy. 

Suddenly something happened, something that should have told her why no one had ever attempted this kind of Gate before. Nodes are unstable by nature, and sometimes they would flood with power for a moment, like a flash flood in a canyon. It didn't affect them too much normally, as the power would quickly recede back into the leylines, but with Tanitha connected to the node as she was, the power surged through her. She was grounded, of course, and under normal circumstances, the power should have grounded out of her, returning to the earth, but since she was shunting all of the node's energy into the Gate, the thing only reacted naturally. The flood went directly into the forming Gate, overpowering it. The other Gate terminus was thrown forward, covering immeasurable distance in only a few moments. Tanitha screamed. 

* * *

Trunks was headed to his best friend's house for a good spar. Ever since he started working at Capsule Corporation, he hadn't had that much time for this kind of thing, and he was glad for the holiday. He sensed Goten's ki in the near distance, and as he landed outside the Son house, Goten came to the door. "Hey, Trunks! What did you need?" 

"Hey Goten, not much. I just have a long weekend, so I thought I'd come over and spar if your Mom doesn't mind." 

"Sure!" He turned his head around and shouted inside the house, "Mom, Trunks is here! You mind if we go off to the lake?" 

From inside came the voice of Chichi. "Just as long as you're back in time for lunch." 

So the pair flew off, headed for the small lake that the Son boys had always done their fishing in. They had just gotten started when suddenly a weird and very strong energy appeared at the edge of the woods on the north shore of the lake. They went to investigate. 

There were two trees there that touched each other's limbs in the way that they had grown. They were the same age and thus the same size. The way that they had grown made them look like a doorway into the forest, and that was what they had always called that place. But now this energy was in that doorway. It swirled around in the center of the natural opening, glowing blue-white and pulsing with a kind of power that neither demi-Saiyan had ever sensed. The swirling continued for a moment, and then it slowed and began to resolve, filling the space and then flashing brilliantly. Suddenly, the boys were no longer looking at the dark woods beyond the copse of trees but into a brightly lit field that had golden strands of some sort of grain or grass waiving in a slight breeze that they couldn't feel. The air was actually quite still. Standing in the midst of this field were three women and three horses. The horses were all beautiful animals, solid white with sapphire eyes. The women were not bad looking either. They all wore a white tunic and over shirt with white pants, as well as riding boots. One had dark brown hair that had red highlights, a square face with high cheekbones and blue-gray eyes. The second had light brown hair, a very strong face and bright blue eyes. The third had brightly blond hair, an elven face that seemed to be in a great deal of pain, and he couldn't tell what color her eyes were because they were shut. 

"Trunks, she's hurt! She needs our help!" The eighteen-year-old moved to walk through the strange gateway. 

Trunks stopped his younger friend. "Goten, what are you doing? You don't know what that thing is! It could be a trap!" 

Goten looked at him. "Yeah, it could be." Then he turned back to the weird doorway and went through it. Trunks sighed. That Goten. Never caring what the consequences might be, perfectly willing to deal with them rather than his conscience. _What the hell._ Trunks quickly followed his friend. 

Once on the other side the "noise" from the portal became deafening. Trunks could tell that the blonde woman was connected to the thing and that it was draining off all her ki to feed itself. That couldn't be a good thing. Goten was checking on the girl. The white horse that stood closest to her looked ready to take his head off, but for some reason she stopped. She nuzzled the blonde worriedly then looked at Trunks. _You have to help her!_

Trunks stared for a moment. The creature must not actually be a horse, just shaped like one. A sudden variation in the gateway brought his attention back to it. Something deep in the earth was feeding energy to the thing but it was being shunted through the girl, and she couldn't handle it, and the thing was so powerful now that she couldn't take it down, which he sensed that she would normally be able to do. Thinking quickly, Trunks watched how the power was moving. The gate-thing seemed almost alive in the way it was steeling the energy, but the energy itself was just acting like electricity. That gave him an idea. "Goten! I need your help. We've got to break up this weird power flow. I'll need you to send a really tightly focused Masenko down into that power core and I'll send one into the flow on this side of her." 

"Right!" With the ease of long practice that came with being able to fuse, the two friends suddenly jumped into sync with each other. They blasted at the same time in opposite directions, knocking all power flow away from the girl except for that part which was her own ki. The "horse" managed to help her friend shut down that part. Without the pulling, the power locus beneath the earth quieted down, but the gate-thing reacted quite differently. With no conscious controls and the huge amount of ki being sent into it the Gate could no longer hold it's place and tried to snap back along it's power path. Which path led directly into Trunks. 

The massive feedback surge was more than twenty times what Trunks had fed into it because of the power from the node. Had Trunks been in Super Saiyan, he could have easily handled the blast, but he was not, and it tore through his mind like tissue paper. The last thought he had before he hit the ground, unconscious, was that with the gate-thing destroyed, there was no way for him and Goten to get home. 

* * *

_This story is in renovation, preparatory to my getting it running again. I was looking through some old files and found this thing. I still like the idea, so I'm going to dust it off, fix it up, and finish it off. A spell checker will be used, so any glaring mistakes will be corrected. Still, if you spot something, tell me. _


	3. Chosen

_Disclaimer: Bite me! Ha! I told you I'd say that! _

A/N: Okay, there will be some linguistic barrier stuff in this chapter, and since I have no access to the Japanese language, I'm making two up as I go along, DBZ Earth and Valdemarian. The languages will be referenced so that I don't mix up my words, and they will follow the grammatical patterns of English so that I'm not forgetting where to put my adjectives. 

____________________  
CHAPTER 2: CHOSEN  
____________________ 

Jenfa and Kila split up, Jenfa taking the lavender-haired youth and Ki taking Tanitha. The black-haired one was at Jenfa's side quickly, checking on his friend. One part of Jenfa's mind was marveling at the power that the two had displayed, but the rest was far more concerned with making sure that this one and Tanitha survived. She called out mentally while checking on the fallen young hero. _Jordin! Get Elspeth and Darkwind and alert the Healers. Tanitha tried that new Gate and it backfired. A couple of VERY strong kids showed up and broke it down before it could kill her, but she's in bad shape and the Gate backlashed onto one of the kids._

_Tanitha! Gods!_ She and Jordin were life-bonded, so his anxiety was very high at learning that she had been hurt. He had thought that he was only imagining it. Neither of them had actually acknowledged the bond, which always caused a lot of pain, but his feelings for her were none the less very strong. Everyone knew they had life-bonded but them! 

The conscious teen looked at his lavender-haired friend with severe anxiety. "Trunks? Da loi con chuko, Trunks?" _Great,_ thought Jenfa. _We get to deal with a language barrier, too._

She decided to see if the teen was Gifted with Mindspeech. _Can you hear me, kid?_ If he could, then the language barrier wouldn't be as much of a problem. 

Surprised, he turned around to look at her and nodded. _I hear you fine. Why are you talking this way?_

_Because I didn't recognize a word you said. You speak a different language than I do. Trunks is his name?_

_Yes, and mine is Goten._

_All right, Goten. Can he speak mind to mind as well?_

_Yes._

_Good. That may come in handy depending on how severe his injuries are._ The lavender haired one was very pale beneath an obvious tan. His breath shuddered in his lungs and sweat was beading up on his face. He was starting to grow very warm. That wasn't good. Jenfa called for her Companion. _Phebe! I need that canteen!_ She focused on Goten again. _Get his shirt off! He's starting to fever from the backlash. We've got to keep his temperature down!_

Suddenly another Gate opened behind them. It was Darkwind and Elspeth. The Tayledras and his wife came quickly through the portal and acted quickly. Elspeth grabbed Tanitha with the help of Ki and Darkwind came to help with Trunks. But before anyone could be moved, a riderless Companion bolted through the Gate and headed straight for Trunks. It was obvious that he intended to Choose him. Phebe spoke briefly with the newcomer. Then she cursed. _We can't move him through the Gate. He's going to be sensitized to it, and if we shove him through one it might kill him. It's the same damn thing that happened to Vanyel! I KNEW we shouldn't have let that girl go messing with Gates! Brains out her ass but not an ounce of common sense!_

* * *

Trunks was in a maelstrom of pain, lost in it's winds like a feather in a hurricane. He couldn't have told anyone at that moment who or what he was, and quite simply he just wanted it to stop. He wanted to die. But something within him wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't give up without a fight. A voice from his memory kept him anchored, speaking of the pride of the Saiyan race. Giving up was not an option! the voice insisted. He was the prince of the greatest race of warriors to ever grace this pathetic universe! Pain could be endured, but taking the coward's way out could not! 

Suddenly another voice joined in, one that was not from his memory. It spoke quietly so as not to hurt his burned "ears." _He is right, Trunks. You cannot give up. You still have things to do, things that you cannot accomplish in the next world. Don't worry, I will help you. You know better than most that many things can be done better with two heads than one. This is one of them._ Who was this? How were they speaking to him? Dende! It hurt so much! _I know. I can help to shield you from the "noise." I am Itan, and you are my Chosen. I will never leave your side. You WILL get through this._

Trunks felt something pass over his mind like a cool blanket, blocking out the pain and noise that had been assaulting him. It was still there, of course. Nothing could take it away completely, at least not yet. He understood that he was injured. It would take time. But with this aid, this new friend, he would be able to make it, to begin the healing process on his own. 

* * *

Jenfa was more than a little shocked that this young man had just been Chosen, but she had read every scrap she could of Vanyel and his time, and she knew some of what was going on. She remembered the journal of a Herald-Mage named Savil. She had been very high in the Circle and she had also been Vanyel's aunt. She had written much of those frightful days immediately succeeding his accident. They would have to make certain to be mentally quiet around him. At least he wasn't likely to be suicidal as the last Herald-Mage had been at the time. He was not facing the death of a life-bonded as Vanyel had been, he had simply acted to save a life. Well this kid was about to become a trainee, but only if they could keep him alive. She spoke very quietly to Goten. _We're going to have to stop talking like this right now. We'll figure out something later. But his brain is not capable of handling mental noise right now. We're going to have to isolate him, shield him, because right now even if you're just thinking quietly to yourself, it's like you're shouting in his ear. His new Companion will help some with that. You can trust him to take care of your friend._

Goten just dropped his gaze dejectedly and said, _Okay._

The next people to cross over the Gate were the Healers in their green tunics and Herald-Captain Kerowyn. Jenfa was surprised that Kerowyn was here. She said, "What's going on here? Horse-face basically ordered me out of the salle and through this Gate. I'd be a fool to ignore her, but what's the problem?" 

Sayvil, Kero's Companion and the afore mentioned "Horse-face," said, _I've seen this before. Get him under a mage-shield now!_ Surprisingly EVERYONE had heard her, not just her Chosen. Darkwind did as she had said quickly. _Now make sure that you filter out ALL of the Gift channels. This boy is different. I don't know what might have been awakened and we don't want to risk any of his channels getting more burned than they already are. Itan? How is he doing?_

_All right, for now, Sayvil. Trunks is very resilient, and he's very stubborn. He should be all right if we can keep the area quiet. Right now I can tell you that not everything was opened. He already had a few channels in use, so the power went through those more easily. Those Gifts will be supercharged. He doesn't even HAVE a channel for the Mage Gift, and he has a couple that I don't recognize._

Goten had, of course, been following the entire conversation. He said quietly, _He and I aren't just human. We're Saiyans, too. There's some things that Saiyans can do a lot easier than humans, and we're naturally a lot stronger._

Sayvil said, _Well I don't know what a Saiyan is, but right now that isn't what matters. We have to keep him shielded for now. The rest can come later._

They worked quickly, setting up a shelter and then leaving the Trunks and Itan there with only two healers for the moment. They had to get back through the Gate and get it shut down. He might not be a mage, but he would certainly feel the Gate, and it would hurt like hell. Goten was loathe to leave his friend, but for some reason he trusted these people. They had an innate goodness that he couldn't believe would allow them to harm him. 

On the other side of that Gate was a huge stone palace. It wasn't like the pictures of castles that he had seen in books. The architecture was totally different, and it looked like it was a mishmash of styles. The Heralds took him to a part of the palace that had a lot of those people in green uniforms running around. They were obviously some kind of doctors, although Goten could sense that a lot of them had very high ki levels for humans. He guessed that they were using their ki to heal, just like Dende did. They reached a small office and went inside. The white-haired man who wasn't a Herald or one of the doctors looked at Goten and said, "Ash, oust ada, fin ti na la nai logan bol is ca cha or lidan?" 

It was said kindly, but Goten didn't have a clue what he had meant. He giggled. _Sir, I have no idea what you just said. I think we don't speak the same language._

The other raised an eyebrow at him, but responded in kind. _I said, "Well, young man, how did you and you're friend come to be in that valley?"_

_Well Trunks and I had gone to the lake to spar and we saw that Gate-thing form. We looked through it and saw that blonde girl and the other two girls and those talking horses. The blonde was hurt so we came through to see if we could help. We could sense the weird energy a lot stronger as soon as we got on this side. It was coming from under the ground, going through her and into the Gate. That's what was hurting her. So Trunks and I both used a Masenko, me pushing at the power under ground and him pushing at the Gate. That got her out of it's way. When I let go, the power under ground just kind of settled, like water after the ripples move away, but when Trunks started to let go, everything that was in the Gate shot out at him. I don't know why it didn't hurt his body, why it only went for his head._

The white-haired man looked at him with a shocked expression. _Before I can understand much of what you just said, I need to know what a Masenko is._

_Oh. Well I can't really show you in here. It'll blow something up, even if it's a little one._ He sighed. _And I'm not very good at explaining how things work. Trunks could._ But now he was injured. He was hurt so bad that they had to isolate him from everyone but the talking horse that had latched on to him and the two green-clad doctors, or just the thoughts in the air could hurt him worse. And Goten felt responsible. It was his idea to come through the Gate. 

Darkwind looked at the youth. He felt the guilt radiating off him, and knew that he was blaming himself for the accident. _It's not your fault, Goten. It was just an accident. And if you two hadn't come through that Gate, it would have eaten Herald Tanitha alive. She was experimenting and it backfired. You two saved her life._

Goten nodded. _I'm just worried._ He sat there with his head hung, the spiky locks of his hair remaining upright in defiance of their owner's mood. 

* * *

Trunks woke to a feeling of fog. It wasn't a physical fog, but a mental one that felt like a winter cold, like he was stuffed up. He was groggy too, and he could tell that he had been drugged, probably for the pain that still throbbed in his head. He tried to remember what had happened, and when he did, he sat bolt upright in the bed. His head protested violently, but he was used to ignoring pain from training in the gravity room with his father. He looked around himself. He was in a tent of some kind. Where was Goten? He extended his senses to search for his friend's ki, but the effort sent a wave of pain and nausea through him so intense that he nearly vomited. 

Soon there was a presence in his mind, soothing down the fearsome anguish in his head. The voice was quiet, and slightly amused, though also full of love. _Don't you know not to reach for anything when you have a torn muscle? That's what this is, you know. The mind is a muscle just like every other you possess, and reaching out with it at this moment is really not a good idea. Something could snap._

Realizing the truth of that he just let the next questions sit in his mind for the other to pick up, somehow certain that they would. _Who are you?_

_I am Itan, Trunks. Do you remember what I told you?_

_Vaguely. Something about being chosen. You helped me. Thank you._

_Of course, Chosen. Now I know for a fact that you have no idea what that means, so let me fill you in on a few things. You are on a different world than the one you knew. Apparently, Taintha's Gate was strong enough to find another world similar to this one, thanks to that damned node. She was running an experiment and it backfired on her. I don't know why Kila's Gift didn't pick up on this, though she never could see magic events very well._

_Magic? Real magic, not ki manipulation or illusions?_

_Exactly. I've noticed that you don't seem to have any of the adaptations to it that a human of this world does, though weather that is because you are not fully human or because your world does not have magic energy, I am not sure. Anyway, the reason that the Gate reacted the way it did is very complex. A normal Gate is created by magic using the personal energy, what you call ki, of the mage who is creating it. They pull it from themselves at first and start it weaving into a framework. Then the Gate does the pulling itself, and the mage really has to have strong control over it or it will suck them dry. Once the frame is complete, the Gate will snap into focus and become a portal like the one you came through, only a normal Gate doesn't have nearly the reach that thing did. The longest reaching one I've ever heard of was when Vanyel's ghost kidnapped Firesong's Gate a while back, taking her to the Sorrows instead of to the Palace like he had intended. But he had four hundred years to gain power and focus haunting those woods._ He giggled a bit. _Sorry. I went off on a bit of a side there. Any way, pulling from the node, which is that big mass of magical energy that you had your friend aiming at, to add to her own store of energy was a new trick that she had discovered, and she wanted to see if she could apply it to a Gate. It worked just fine. She should have been able to go anywhere on the planet with a Gate that powerful, maybe even make a permanent Gate like the antients had back before the Mage Wars. But a natural node will sometimes flux. It's perfectly normal, just like lava underneath a volcano. It will build up for a time, and then the slightest shift happens and it explodes. That's what happened to Tanitha. The energy was already going through her, so the flux naturally went along the same path. It kept going through the filter she had set up, through her and into the Gate. It was more than enough to catapult the Gate all the way to your world. Now what happened afterward was that when you sent your pulse into the Gate you created a back flow that had no where to go, so it kept building and building until it exploded back along it's original track. So you not only got your own attack thrown through your mind, but all the energy that Tanitha an the node had put into it. If you weren't a Saiyan and so thick headed, it would have burned you up from the inside out and left a nasty little pile of white ashes and bone fragments._

Trunks blanched a bit. Still, he wouldn't have rather left the girl to die. Goten had been right. He changed the subject a bit. After all he was on a new world and it looked like he was going to be stuck there for a while, so he needed to learn all he could about it. _So where are you?_

The feeling of a smile came through in Itan's mind-voice. _I'm right outside the tent. They couldn't figure out any way of getting me inside, so I took the next best thing. Do you want to see me?_

_Definitely._

There was a movement at the flap of the tent. Itan thrust his head inside, shocking his Chosen easily. _Sorry,_ he said innocently. _Did I forget to mention what a Companion looks like?_ For what Trunks saw was a white horse's head with eyes as blue as his own. 

* * *

_A/N: Well, that's the second chapter. The next one might get a little boring if you already know Valdemar, cause I have to explain things to those who don't, including the other readers, but especially Trunks and Goten. After all, as Trunks noticed, they're going to be stuck here for a while. Also remember that this is in revision. Any mistakes you see, please tell me. _


	4. Explanations

_Disclaimer: I am a deeply in debt college student. If you sue me all you will get is my credit card bill, my overdrawn checking account, a VCR and a woodwind recorder. The rest belongs to my parents. So :p! _

A/N: Ah, another chapter. I did warn you that this is going to be a long story, right? Chapter numbers in the teens to mid twenties, with a possibility of showers over the Pelagirs all the way to Haven. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! 

__________________________  
CHAPTER 3: EXPLANATIONS  
__________________________ 

_Yeah,_ said Trunks, _you kinda didn't mention that!_ Then he grinned. "I guess it doesn't matter what you look like." He was surprised at the hoarse sound of his own voice. His throat hurt terribly. He realized that this was at least partially because he was extremely dry and thirsty. 

Itan picked up on that and said, _Hold on. I'll get a Healer and they can get you some water._ He move back out of the tent, leaving Trunks to himself for a brief moment. He thought about everything he had learned about that Gate and realized that even with all that information, he was still in the dark about a lot. Oh well. There was plenty of time to learn. After all, he was stuck here, right? 

That thought caused him to think of his and Goten's families. They would never get to see them again. He imagined that they would be presumed dead. His mother would crumple for a while, but she still had his sister and father. Hopefully everyone would be all right. Chichi, of course, would go ballistic, but he thought that even she would be all right eventually. But he knew that there would be attempts to reach them in Otherworld, attempts that would fail since they weren't dead. He sighed. Maybe there was some way he could get in contact with Otherworld from here. That way they would have something to tell their families. 

Soon, one of the men in green came into the tent with a leather canteen and handed it to Trunks. He took it gratefully and drank nearly all of it, handing it back to the Healer. The man had mousy brown hair and a kind face set with generically hazel eyes that smiled at his charge. He said, "Fin ir na goji? Na tael on firi a durka go, oust ada." 

Trunks eyes widened at the sounds. What the hell? Itan said, _Oops. I forgot about that. You don't speak the language around here. Your friend Goten showed us that. What he said was, "How are you feeling? You gave us quite a scare there, young man." (Snort.) He's such a stuffy old coot._

Trunks fought to keep himself from chuckling at the comment. _How can I answer him then?_

_Just answer in your own language and he'll get the hint._

So he did. "Thank you. I'm doing fine, and I didn't mean to scare anyone." 

The old Healer's eyes widened much as his young patient's had. "Um..." He looked at Trunks. How were they going to deal with this? After all, not everyone would be able to hear his thoughts, even if he would be louder now than ever before. 

Trunks sighed. He would just have to learn the language. It was a good thing that he had inherited the genius of his mother's family. He was already fluent in seven languages, and it had been a great help with his work at Capsule Corporation as a company representative. He could learn new languages quickly. So he started with the obvious. Names. He pointed to himself and said, "Trunks." 

The Healer smiled and realized what he was about. He pointed to himself and said, "Canod Enry." 

Itan translated to Trunks. _Healer Enry._

_A Healer is like a doctor, right?_

_Kind of, but they use their Gift to Heal, not just knowledge and skill._

Trunks nodded. He took the canteen and said, "Canteen." 

Enry said, "Nosta." 

They went back and forth like that for quite a while, Itan correcting any mistakes. Trunks discovered that the grammatical structure of their languages was identical, so it would only be a matter of learning the vocabulary. After about an hour, though, Trunks started getting tired. He was still drained and sore from his ordeal, and was bound to tire quickly. Enry noticed this and told Trunks to get to sleep. 

At first Trunks would have rebelled, but Itan said, _If you think you can stand being out from under my shield, I'll let you stay awake._ He dropped the shield just a bit. Suddenly Trunks could hear the thoughts of every living being with a complex nervous system within a thousand miles! It was worse than deafening, it was extremely painful. Finally, Trunks relented and promised to rest. 

* * *

Goten was listening carefully to Darkwind's explanations. _So this magic energy is the weird energy that me and Trunks sensed along with Tanitha's ki. Can everybody here do magic?_

_No. Only a very small percentage of the population is ever born with ANY Gift, and among those, the Mage Gift is pretty rare itself. Now in this country, called Valdemar, those who are Gifted often end up being Chosen by a Companion, a sentient person who is shaped like a beautiful white horse. Don't worry about being able to tell them apart. If you can sense magical energy like you said, then you'll be able to tell the difference easily. And Companions have very blue eyes. Now, someone who is Chosen, no matter where they are in the Kingdom, will be brought here to Haven by their Companion. They are entered into the Heraldic Collegium as Trainees and trained to become Heralds. That is what will happen to your friend when he is able to travel here._

Goten, though he acted much like his father, was far more intelligent when it came to academics and was able to grasp all that was being told to him. However, _What's a Herald do?_ It was a fair question since he had never been on this planet before. 

Princess Elspeth, once the designated Heir before she had abdicated in favor of her twin siblings, took over the explanation with a bit of history, telling the wild-haired teenage the story of the Baron Valdemar. _Centuries ago, in the Eastern Empire, a Baron named Valdemar fled with his people from the persecution of the Emperor. They fled as far west as they could, but they still feared that they would be followed by the Emperor's men. So the Baron spent a full day in the middle of a large grove of trees, praying to every deity he knew of from every culture he had ever heard of for help to keep his people safe. After a while, the first three Companions appeared and Chose the Baron, his son, and his herald. For a while, the Companions were only Grove-born, but soon enough nature took it's course and now the only Grove-born are normally the Companion of the Monarch's own. Anyway, Valdemar began his kingdom on that spot with the Grove Chapel. Heralds became the dispensers of law, arbiters when needed, specialty soldiers. With the Companions, we have excellent communications. The Monarch is required to be a Herald by law. If the next in line isn't at least Chosen, then they search the peripheral bloodlines for an Heir._

Goten said, _So Trunks is going to become one of you? No matter what?_

_Well, he'll have the option to refuse. If he does, then Itan will leave him and he can do what ever he wants, but no one has actually done that in hundreds of years, not because they couldn't, but because they didn't want to. Don't worry. Trunks will have plenty of time to think about it. There's no pressure. Believe me, with the kinds of danger Heralds are faced with on such a regular basis, we would not want any who were not willing!_

Goten sighed. If they had said otherwise, he might have been inclined to do some damage, but as long as it was Trunks' choice, he wouldn't begrudge it. It sounded like a good job, much better than running the main plant at Capsule Corp. He'd get to help people without having to resort to Gohan's "Saiyaman" idea. With this he'd be just another Herald. An uncommon one in both strength and appearance, but still just one among the many. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind letting Goten help out sometimes. 

* * *

Jenfa and Kila were in the throne room, standing before Queen Selenay. She was a bit angry that they had gone through with the experiment without another Herald-Mage present, but she didn't gripe at them too much. She figured that they had realized the reasons by now. She asked Jenfa, "So how are our young friends? I've yet to receive a full report on this whole mess." 

Jenfa said, "Well, Itan told Phebe that his Chosen is very good with languages and started to learn Valdemaran from Healer Enry. Goten isn't even trying just yet. He just Mindspeaks to everyone he comes in contact with. He said that he isn't very good with academic learning. We may have to take him to Errold's Grove and ask the _dyheli_ to put our language in his mind." 

Selenay said, "Well, I still have some questions. Any ideas on where they came from and how they were able to do what they did?" 

"We know that they're not from our world. They called their home 'Earth,' but that doesn't really help. I gather that it's very similar to this one, but just how much, I have no idea." 

"All right." Selenay thought for a moment. "I want you to ride out there, Jenfa. Take a couple of palfreys from the stables for the Healers. They walked through the Gate to get there, so they don't have a ride. As you come back, make sure that you get as much information as you can. We need to know as much about them as possible." 

"Right. Goten offered to give a demonstration of that energy attack they used earlier. He just didn't want to give it inside, something about even a small one would blow something up." 

"Good. I'd like to see that!" 

* * *

It took Jenfa a week to get there, slowed as she was by the pace of the horses. No horse could ever hope to match the speed of a Companion, but that was all right. It wasn't as though they were rushed. Itan reported that Trunks was still not able to travel, although the young man was of a different opinion. He had agreed to wait for her to get there, but he was impatient. 

Trunks decided the morning before she was supposed to arrive to get in a little light training. As injured as he was, he expected that he would be quite a bit stronger now, given the Saiyan's propensity for gaining strength in recovery from life-threatening injuries. He stepped outside the tent, dressed in the spare tunic and pants that Healer Enry had given him. The garments were a dingy brown color, but they fit loosely and wouldn't hinder his movements. He slipped on his sneakers, which had been left by the fire to keep them dry, and walked a short distance away from the campsite. 

He decided to start slow, taking the soreness of inactivity into account, and began a series of katas. They were the formal forms of the royal system that his father had been trained under. Vegeta had taught him the forms when he was three years old, and he had practiced them nearly every day of his life, though usually at speed. Today he was going to start slow, even for a human. 

He had gone through the first three forms before the sun was over the horizon, but now that it had made it's entrance, the day was promising to be a warm one. Trunks began to feel the heat and took the tunic off. There were twenty two more forms to go, and they became more and more intricate as he progressed. 

* * *

Jenfa arrived a day early. The horses had proved even faster than expected, so she was able to shave a lot of time off of the trip. Phebe laughed at her impatience. _You know,_ said the Companion, _it could have been worse. I could have made you walk!_

The Herald snorted. "Yeah, and I could have slipped that mule piss they called ale at the last inn into your water! Then who'd be laughing!" 

_I would never have drunk tainted water, and you know it. Besides, I'm not the one who got drunk off of said mule piss and had to live with the hangover!_

Jenfa imaged her own face with her tongue stuck out at her Companion. Just then they crested the gentle ridge that was just beyond the campsite where the Healers were keeping Trunks in his tent. 

Or were supposed to be. But Jenfa spotted him out in the field working his way through a lengthy and complex series of movements. He was shirtless, revealing a sweat-covered fighter's build to his unknown observer. His form was flawless as he moved with the grace of a dancer, his lean, well-muscled frame completely controlled, the motions flowing with the ease of long practice. He wasn't bulky, like some men became when they put on muscle. Rather he was slender, without being skinny, and add to that his handsome face, currently pulled into an expression of intense concentration, and his exotic lavender hair, down to his shoulders and tied back with a leather thong at the nape of his neck, and he seemed like male perfection to her eyes. 

Phebe noticed the sudden distraction of her Chosen. She looked over to see what she was staring at and whickered with amusement. _See something you like, Jen?_

Knocked out of her reverie by the sudden comment, Jenfa threw an annoyed glare at the equine head. _You better not start matchmaking, Phebs!_

(innocently) _Would I do something like that?_

_I seem to remember someone pushing me at Darron Ashkevron last year at the Sovvan party, and before that it was that young Bard, Isolder, and before that it was the Guardsman, Jamis. You stick your snout in whenever it pleases you!_ She said it softly to remove any sting from her words. 

Phebe sighed. _I just want you to be happy, Chosen. It is not good for humans to be so alone._

Jenfa knew that, but she had always been alone. From her youth in a tiny village that was leagues away from the main southern road, she had never had anyone to call a friend but one. He was an orphan, just like her, and they worked together to pay for their rent in the little orphanage. The establishment made basic cloth to sell to merchants and tailors for dying and cutting and used the money from the sales to support the children under it's roof. At least that was what was supposed to happen, but the proprietor had been a very greedy individual. He had always skimmed the till for himself, to the detriment of the well-being of the children. The boy had only ever had one name; Scar. He was called that for the prominent mark that ran from his forehead, skipped over his eye, and then continued all the way to his jaw. Everyone knew that his father had given him the scar, and no one asked him what had happened to that man. No one had ever found him. 

Scar had been her only friend until he died of extreme illness when they were twelve. His illness would have been easily curable, but the keeper had been too greedy to pay for the treatment. His death had nearly driven Jenfa insane. When she started hearing the thoughts of those around her, she thought that it _had_. Finally, she heard the wrong mental monologue. Some guy was trying to buy some of the orphans for slave labor and the keeper was gloating in his head about the money he would be making from the sale. She had run away from the orphanage, straight to the magistrate of the village. He would never have believed her if a Companion hadn't run into the village at that moment. She had actually come _inside_ the court building to find Jenfa. She had Chosen her in that moment, lending credibility to her statements. 

She had made few friends in Haven. Kila, Tanitha, Mikal, and Jordin were all she had, aside from Phebe. Heralds generally were a friendly bunch and could be counted upon to treat each other as family, but Jen had never really been that social. She found it hard to trust people. The result was inevitably loneliness. 

Well, she could handle it, despite the worries of her Companion. And the fact that she could handle it didn't mean she was immune to the charms of a gorgeous man moving shirtless in a field in the morning. 

* * *

_A/N: Well that's Chapter 3. Remember that this thing is in revision, so please point out any glaring mistakes._


	5. More Explanations

_Disclaimer: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them._

_________________________________  
CHAPTER 4: MORE EXPLANATIONS  
_________________________________ 

Unknown to Jenfa, Trunks had heard the entire conversation, even under Itan's shield. He smirked at the Herald's reaction to him. He knew he looked good, and as long as she didn't start acting like some of those silly women at Capsule who were always trying to ambush him at company parties, he didn't mind her looking. 

He finished the kata he was in the middle of and paused for a moment, then he turned around and waved at Jenfa and Phebe, both indicating that they should come down and letting them know that he had known that they were there. 

Jenfa dismounted next to him and said, "I thought you were supposed to be resting." 

Trunks grinned. "The kata aren't that strenuous at this speed. I should tell you that my shields are just about nil right now. The only shield I have is coming from Itan, and I could hear you on the ridge." 

Jenfa blushed. "Sorry about that. I should have remembered. I should be able to show you how to shield. Normally, that waits until a Trainee gets to Haven, but normally the Companion's shields are enough to keep out random 'noise.'" 

Trunks nodded. "Before this happened, I had a shield around my thoughts, but whatever damage was done kinda shredded it. Saiyans aren't amazingly strong telepaths, but good enough that a shield is necessary. But I haven't been able to get the thing up. I haven't even been able to raise my power level much, and that worries me. Something's wrong, but I can't figure out what, and neither can Enry or Pol." 

Jenfa looked at him. "Do you want me to look? I'm a strong Mindspeaker, and I know what to look for. It's likely to hurt a bit with your channels as raw as they are, but I'll try to be gentle." She colored again as she realized how that statement could be misunderstood. 

But Trunks decided not to misconstrue. He just nodded and said, "Please. I need someone who knows what they're doing to check it out. The Healers mean well, but they don't have a clue what's going on with me. They told me that neither one of them were trained to deal with the Gifted." 

"What?! How did those two get sent out here? Lord and Lady, we're lucky you're as well off as you are if you've had only your Companion to help you!" 

"Don't worry about it. It's very hard to kill a Saiyan, even with their own stupidity. If I had been paying attention to how the energy was building in that thing, I would have realized that I needed to run a cross beam at it to disrupt the flow. See, when the energy released, if I had been watching more closely, I would have been able to fire a blast from the other side. That would have knocked it out of the way, sending it to hit something that wasn't alive, like a mountain or something. Or I could have gone Super Saiyan and erected an energy shield that could have safely absorbed the blast." 

Jenfa stared at him. How could he think that he could possibly have deflected a blast of that magnitude? "What are you talking about? And what is a Saiyan?" 

Trunks just grinned at her incredulousness. "Don't worry about it. I won't be able to show you until I can get some sparring in with Goten. Even then it's no guarantee you'll be able to see us. Normal humans often can't, thanks to our speed." 

Jenfa sensed that he was being truthful, but decided to tease him about it anyway. "A little high on the ego, are we?" 

His grin widened. "Maybe, but not about this. But you'll have to wait and see for yourself, won't you?" He picked his borrowed tunic off of the ground and walked with her and Phebe back to the camp. Once there, they went inside the tent and sat on the cot he had been sleeping on for the past week. 

Jenfa sat crosslegged on the cot and motioned for Trunks to do the same. She relaxed and went into a meditative state, sensing that the lavender-haired young man followed her. Just paying attention to that, she could sense what might be wrong. He was completely ungrounded and his center was severely shaken. She reached out a mental "hand" to him, intending to help him reestablish his center. She said, _Take it. I'll help you find your center again. The blast must have knocked it loose._

Trunks was chagrinned that he hadn't thought of that. He had instinctively known where his center was from his earliest memories. He hadn't had to be taught. It was normally as easy as breathing to him to center and draw his energies from that place within himself. His father had, of course, explained the mechanics of it. To use ki, one had to find that part of them which was calm, even if they were in a rage, that part which could coldly calculate the weight of the power within them, no matter what emotions or pain or other sensations might be flowing through their minds. From that center you pulled your ki, moulding it into whatever shape was required, such as a ki blast or a ball of energy or an invisible force to hold you off the surface of the ground. 

But when the Gate had backlashed through his mind, it must have jarred that place, making it harder to find. It wasn't actually damaged, else he would feel it, like a dull ache that wouldn't stop and only continued to get worse. Instead, he couldn't find it at all, so he couldn't pull from it, either to shield or to power up. 

Now that he knew what he was missing, he allowed Jenfa to help him find that place again. Finally, they located it and he began to gently move it back into place. The Herald seemed surprised that he had the control to do this on his own. Normally it would have taken the services of a Mindhealer to return a dislocated center, but he did it with reletive ease. She backed out of his mind. 

Trunks felt the slight "pop" of the relocation and then felt his power returning. He hastily put up a shield around his mind, stronger than he usually had. He felt Itan drop his shield away from him. He wasn't assaulted by the miriad thoughts of every animal in the area this time. He could hear the running conciousness of the two Companions, Jenfa, and the two Healers, as well as the minds of the horses. He increased his shields even further and then finally there was silence. It was deafening. For the whole week he'd had to deal with a constant babble, even through Itan's shield, but now it was silenced. He only had his own mind to deal with. 

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Well, it was time to see if his power was still intact. Keeping the shield around his inner ear so that only someone who was intentionally projecting at him could get through, he called out to Goten. _Hey! Goten!_

_Trunks? Is that you? Where are you?_

_I'm still in the valley. Why don't you follow my ki signature and come out here? I need to see how my strength fared in the blast, so I need a sparring partner._

_Sure! I'll just tell Darkwind where I'm going and then I'll be right there._

_Good. See you in a bit._ Trunks opened his eyes and noticed that Jenfa was staring at him. "Goten's on his way. He should be here within the hour." 

Jenfa stared at him. "What!? How? It took me a week with horses! Not even a Companion can move that fast, and I can't believe that they'll Gate him out here." 

Trunks smirked. "He's a lot faster than any Companion. When he gets here you'll see. He uses his ki to fly, just like I do." 

Now Jenfa was incredibly confused. "Fly? Ki?" 

He nodded, amused at her confusion. He guessed that no one had ever discovered how to use ki in that manner in this world. "Ki is the energy that all people have inside them. You already know how to pull from it, I'm sure. Itan told me that of all the Heralds, you're the strongest Mindspeaker. You can reach all the way to the Karsite border from Haven without any assistance. I still haven't figured out that distance, but a month on horseback has got to be quite a distance. I could figure it out later, but that's not important right now. What do you do when you have to make a call that loud?" 

Jenfa was very curious as to where this was leading. She said, "Well, I ground myself in the earth, then I center and pull personal energy from my center and use it to boost the call." 

Trunks looked at her strangely. "Well the second part I recognize. That's what I do. That personal energy is your ki. You just haven't learned to manipulate it in other ways. I don't know what this grounding business is, but we'll talk about that later. Now, what I do to fly is pull enough energy from myself to put a force underneath my feet, then I push off with it. It's really not that hard to learn. Since you all ready know your center, it wouldn't be too hard for me to teach you; you're definately strong enough." 

"Hmm. Well, let me see what it is you're talking about first. That way we know we're both talking about the same thing." 

"Sure. Let's go outside." 

Once they were back in the field, Trunks told Itan to make sure that the horses didn't spook, then turned to Jenfa. He said, "Can you sense the changes in personal energy? Can you tell what someone is doing with it?" 

She shook her head. "No. That's the Othersight, something connected with the Mage Gift." 

"Not the way I do it." He sighed. "All right. I'll have to teach you from the very beginning. But first I'll give you a small demonstration." He found a fist-sized chunk of stone and handed it to her. "Throw this up in the air as high as you can get it." 

She cocked an eyebrow at him. Whatever he was about to do, there was a glint in his eyes that was sheer mischief. Under the deepest shields she had, she thought privately that he was probably showing off. Oh well. She bent her knees to add to the force she could put into launching the stone and then came up swiftly, tossing it into the air. As the stone slowed and began it's decent, Trunks raised a hand toward it, as though he were pointing at it. A tiny light began to grow in his palm, which quickly shot out toward the falling stone. On contact, the rock exploded into sand, no shard even big enough to resist the stiff breeze that was blowing through the valley. 

Not a sound came from Jenfa's open mouth. She stared at the point in the sky where the rock had been only moments before, her mind racing. She knew he wasn't grounded, and she knew that he didn't have the Mage Gift. So how did he do that? It wasn't lightning, either. She had seen Herald-Mages in battle, knew what a levin bolt looked like. Mage-lightning and mage-fire both looked like their natural counter parts, save for color. This had been a ball, like a simple mage-light, but far more distructive than the harmless little lights that were used in place of candles and lanterns when such lighting was not feasible. This wasn't the true magic that a mage used, but it was certainly powerful. He had said that all he used was his personal energy, but if that were so, how could he do something like that and not become tired from it? 

Trunks saw the confusion in her eyes. But he knew he wouldn't be able to explain matters until he saw her methods and where his differed. He said, "So what is this grounding that you were talking about?" 

Jenfa snapped out of her reverie as the question registered. "Well, when I use my Gift, I have to concentrate, which makes me vulnerable to any kind of attack or outer influence. The effect of that interference will vary with the Gift. With mine, stray thoughts will mix with mine until I'm not sure what's coming from myself and what's from outside. To prevent this, you errect a shield, but if you aren't sure of that shield it can become brittle and shatter at the least little thing, so a shield must be stabilized by something else, and the earth is the best choice. Any surges from any source will be redirected into the ground itself, so they don't hit you or your shields if they haven't actually been aimed at them. Of course that doesn't prevent attacks, but it does prevent accidents and gradual erosion." 

"Oh! I get it! It's like a lightning rod." 

"Exactly. So how do you do that without grounding?" 

"Well," and he would have continued, but he sensed an aproaching power level. It was Goten. Trunks was surprized to find that his friend was still over a hundred miles away! He shouldn't be able to sense him this quickly. He wondered if this new sensitivity would help him to become stronger. Then he mentally slapped himself. He was starting to sound like his father! To Jenfa, he said, "Goten's getting closer. I think I'll wait until he gets here." 

She looked at him strangely, but said nothing. Trunks could feel the disbelief coming off her in a wave and grimaced. He tightened his shields. It wasn't like she didn't want to believe him. She had simply never witnessed anything like what he was talking about, so she was naturally skeptical. 

Soon enough, however, her skepticism was completely irradicated when Goten floated gracefully out of the sky to land in front of them. Itan, who had himself been fairly impressed, had forgotten to control the horses. The sight of a human in the air and headed straight for them was more than enough to spook them after the explosion of the rock, and they took off down the valley, trying desperately to get away from the strange happenings. 

Goten had a sheepish look on his face. "Rohda, Trunks. Li adna katchi ven wora ri shunas." (Sorry Trunks. I didn't mean to scare the horses.) 

Trunks snorted. "Tin con chuko, chibi. Itan et Li jan ro vek len." (It's all right, kid. Itan and I will go get them.) 

Trunks and Itan tried for an hour to corall the frightened beasts and get them back to the campsite. Finally, Trunks just decided to use his newly awakened mental strength. He latched onto the minds of the animals and soothed their fears, then "suggested" to them that Itan was their herd leader so that they would follow him. Itan said with mock indignance, _I am not a horse!_

Teasing his new friend, he said, _Funny, you sure have a horse's face._

Itan snorted. _Watch it, monkey._

Trunks grinned at the insult. Had it come from anyone else, of course, he would have been extremely offended. Calling a Saiyan a monkey was the worst possible insult, and of course, people like Frieza had used it frequently to belittle the few remaining Saiyans in the universe. But he knew that his Companion was only teasing. Calling a Companion a horse was just as offensive. 

As they neared the campsite, Trunks could hear Goten telepathically speaking with Jenfa. _Yeah, and then we snuck into the adult competition. We stole this wierd guy's costume because it had a mask and it was real big. It would have gone better if they had just let us enter with the adults in the first place, because then we wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble when we were found out._

He grinned, knowing exactly what his friend had been telling the Herald. That stunt at the tournament had gotten them in a lot of trouble once the whole mess with Buu had been finished. _Yeah, but you know that both of our dads would have slaughtered us in the ring if we'd had to go up against either one of them._

Goten looked up, and seeing his partner in crime riding back into camp, he grinned. _Yeah, but it would have been a lot more fun! What took you so long?_

_You scared 'em brainless, Goten! They weren't about to let anything smelling Saiyan anywhere near them! I had to get into their heads and convince them you were harmless. As it is, they're pretty worn out. Jenfa?_

_Yeah?_

_Do you have water ready for them? They're going to need it._

* * *

_A/N: Don't forget to tell me about mistakes! _


	6. Haven

_Disclaimer: I am not Akira-sama or Misty-sama. I don't own DBZ or Valdemar. _

A/N: Here's Chapter 5! Just one note. Anything in ( ) these is spoken in the DBZ-verse language when someone can understand it, like Trunks and Goten talking to each other. 

__________________  
CHAPTER 5: HAVEN  
__________________ 

As the Goten helped two Healers get their things together to head back to Haven, Trunks was talking to Jenfa. "Now that I know what this grounding is that you do, I can tell you why I don't do it. If I were grounded, it would root me to the earth. I wouldn't be able to fly very far or very fast." 

Jenfa said, "That can't be right. There were a couple of gryphons in Haven some time back, and they were both Master level mages. They had no problem getting off the ground." 

"They weren't using their ki to do anything more than power their muscles. They wouldn't have needed to be grounded for flight. And if they were doing magic in the air, then they were probably not moving over a great distance. Besides, they will have had a great deal of practice at that sort of thing and I have never needed to ground so I wouldn't be very good at it." 

"Hm. I see. When we're on a long journey we do have to move our ground with us. It's usually no big deal. We have to unground and reground every few leagues, but that's a simple procedure." 

Trunks nodded. "Probably, but I wouldn't want to try and maintain it in a pitched battle. I'll show you what I mean. Goten! (Is all that stuff packed up?)" 

He nodded. "(Yeah!)" 

"(Okay then. Let's get some sparring in.)" 

They waited until the Healers were out of the valley, not wanting to spook the horses again, then got started. Jenfa watched in awe as the two went at each other, fists, feet, knees, elbows, and anything else in between becoming weapons, colliding. Before long, the fight moved too quickly for her to see, just as Trunks had warned her it might, as well as moving into the air. 

As the battle wore on, it might have seemed to Jenfa that the two were equal, but the combatants were noticing something else. Trunks energy was fading much faster than it should have. Goten shouldn't have been able to do this well against him, and he knew it. He said, "(Trunks, are you all right? You seem really tired.)" 

Trunks sat there in the air, breathing heavily. "(I'm not sure, Goten. I don't think I'm fully recovered yet. I shouldn't be this tired so quickly, even if we were in the gravity room. I think that Gate must have drained my energy along with everything else. We should probably stop now.)" Goten agreed and they landed. By the time they actually got to the ground, Trunks was panting and becoming pale, and he couldn't keep from collapsing. 

Itan was quick to notice the change in his Chosen and he trotted to where the lavender-haired young man was landing. _Trunks, you need to rest. You've healed at a remarkable rate, but that doesn't mean you're ready for this._

Trunks just nodded, sitting on the ground and leaning against his Companion's foreleg. Damnit! He hated feeling so weak! He was supposed to be one of the strongest beings in the universe, and he had helped to bring down some of the most horrific evils ever known, but now he couldn't even get through one sparring session with a friend who wasn't even trying to hurt him! How pathetic was that? 

Itan chortled into his mind. _Being weak because of injury is no shame. All you need is time and rest and you will be back in top form. Now, if you're not careful, you'll drain yourself to the point where your shields will be useless again, and the last thing you need on top of all this is a reaction headache. Believe me, they're no fun!_

Trunks smiled at his equine friend's advice. Itan was right. He would just have to be patient. Then he realized something. _You know, I wasn't actually talking to you. How closely are we linked, anyway?_

The emotional equivalent of a grin colored his response. _Close enough to pick up random thoughts unless you specifically block me out. You'll figure out how to do that fairly quickly, but for now, don't worry about it. All you need to worry about is getting your strength back up, though what you displayed in that "little spar" of yours was amazing! I can't wait to see what you're really capable of._

Trunks grinned back. _Oh, you will! I promise. But for now, I think I'm going back to that tent and fall on my nose._ Having regained his breath while sitting there, he stood cautiously, using Itan's strong frame for support. He thought about this subtle change in himself. Before coming through that Gate, he would never have accepted that kind of aid, and he would most likely not have accepted Itan's reassurances. Like his father, he would have been stubborn, gone out to the gravity room, and beat the shit out of himself until his mother had come out and unplugged the thing, convinced that the best way to get over any weakness was to work it out physically. He couldn't think when he had realized that it wouldn't work. He also didn't notice the slight twinkle of mischief in his Companion's eye. 

* * *

It was another week before Trunks was strong enough to travel. When he went through an entire day without feeling exhausted at the end of it, Itan let himself be saddled. He had gotten Trunks mad at him more than once for not giving in to his impatience, but his point was always made at the end of the day when he could barely stand. 

Despite his weakness, Trunks was able to do his morning workout every day, running through the kata to keep himself toned. He knew what could happen to someone who didn't move a lot, and he refused to loose his flexibility. Itan had no quarrel with this, agreeing that the light (for a Saiyan) exercise would be beneficial to his health. 

The morning they began their journey back to Haven, it was beautiful. It was warm without being hot and there was a good breeze blowing through the valley, a day that, had he been at home, he would have skipped work with Goten and gone swim-fishing in one of the pristine lakes around the younger man's home. Now, he was on a rural trail at the beginning of a journey estimated to take four days, with his equine partner and a girl who, though he could snap her neck in a heartbeat, seemed to not be afraid of him, or anyone else for that matter. If anyone had told him he'd be doing this a month ago, he'd have called the Satan City Sanitarium and had them picked up. 

And yet, it was some how becoming a natural thing. He had never had to think twice about accepting Itan for what he was, nor had to correct himself from thinking of the Companion as a horse. He had never conceived that any of the people he had met would try to harm him. He would never have thought that they _could_, but to not worry about them at least _trying_? That was so unlike him that he wondered what could have happened to cause this change in himself. It was certainly not the injury. But what? 

At night they stopped at way stations that were maintained by the government of Valdemar specifically for sheltering Heralds in the field. They were well maintained, stocked with field rations and grain for the Companions, but this was not fair that would fulfill a Saiyan's appetite. He went hunting every night, making sure to save enough for Jenfa. His rate of consumption boggled her mind, but, as he was always careful with his hunting, never taking marked animals or those with young, she didn't say anything. 

Along the journey, he told her about his home, family, and world. All of it. For some reason, he didn't feel the need to hide anything from her. He told her everything from Goku's landing on Earth as a baby and some of his early adventures with Bulma, to Raditz, Namek, Frieza, Cell, and Buu. _(A/N: I have no access to DBGT, so I'm asserting AU privileges and saying that it never happened. That way I don't contradict anything. All I'll do is acknowledge the existence of Pan, Bra, and Uub. The world has been peaceful since the end of DBZ, with no new super villains to fight.)_

Amazingly, the Herald wasn't surprised by any of this, at least not to the point of disbelief. On the end of their fourth day on the road, as they were nearing Haven, he asked her why. "I mean, I know that our adventures are more than a little out of the ordinary." 

She smiled. "That they are, but I have a very small Empathic Gift, just enough to know when someone is lying or really upset. Don't worry about being accepted in Haven. The Companions are never wrong in their Choices." 

"So what do Heralds actually do? Are they like the army or something?" He wasn't sure he wanted to be a member of an army, even if it was one guaranteed to be honest and honorable by the Companions. 

"Not exactly. The standing army in Valdemar are called the Guards. The Heralds are known as the arrows of the Monarch. We do what needs to be done. We ride circuit, taking certain routes through the country to bring news and law to the towns, arbitrating disputes when needed, aiding the people in times of disaster, natural or otherwise. We protect the people if they come under attack, we help the guard in times of war, we serve as envoys and diplomats, even spies when necessary. We go where we are needed and do what we have to to keep Valdemar safe. Now that's just a generalization, of course. There's no way I can give you any real concept of what Heralds do in the time it's going to take us to get to Haven, but you'll learn more in your classes. 

"You see, to become a Herald, you'll have to learn a lot about Valdemar and it's peoples and neighbors. Right now, we aren't actually at war with anyone, a state that's fairly new. We've been at war with Karse, the nation at our southern border, for centuries, and it's only been within the last thirty years that this has changed. 

"One historical figure whom I think will interest you greatly was a man named Vanyel Ashkevron. When he first came to Haven at the age of sixteen, he was a paying student, a young nobleman who's father had sent him to Haven and the Collegium because of tensions in the family. None of his Gift channels were open. But he life-bonded to a young man named Tylendel, a Heraldic Trainee and a mage. Things happened and Tylendel was driven insane at the murder of his twin brother. In his grief, he got Vanyel to help him build a Gate, intending to take revenge on those who had killed his brother. He knew that if he made the Gate himself, then he wouldn't be able to function once on the other side. He would be drained of his energy and would be incapable of acting. So, through the life-bond he was able to use Vanyel's energy, only it was improperly grounded. Well, Tylendel loosed a pack of _wyrsa_ on the party that the murderers were attending. His Companion renounced their bond and then attacked the _wyrsa_. They killed her, and in grief, Tylendel killed himself. When the Heralds arrived, they tried to take the gate down, but because of the strange way it had been built, it backlashed through him, opening every channel he had. He was Chosen that night by Yfandes, and he became the most powerful Herald-Mage in history, but he was always alone, until the very end of his life." 

Trunks pondered over this new information. That life-bond sounded awfully familiar. So he said, "What is this life-bond?" 

"Well sometimes when two people meet, it's like their souls recognize each other. They usually don't realize this at first, and it can take months, or even years for them to consummate the bond, but barring death, they'll always end up together. Some way, they will always find a path back to each other. Herald-Captain Kerowyn was a mercenary captain and when she met Herald Eldan, she wouldn't acknowledge the bond and it took ten years before she ended up in Valdemar again and they found each other. Life-bonds join two souls together for life. It's impossible for them to love anyone else. And life-bonds can happen without regard to station, gender, or even species sometimes. There are several non-human races that are just as intelligent as humans, and there have been a few documented cases of cross-species life-bonds. Such don't produce children, of course, and neither do shayach pairings, but that doesn't really matter to most of them. If they want to raise children, there is always adoption." 

Trunks nodded. "That sounds a lot like the Saiyan mating bond, at least somewhat. Sometimes it happens like that, but there is always the ritualistic part of the bond that even those who form a natural bond will perform. When a Saiyan finds someone to be their mate, they will bond to them, each biting the other in the crook of the neck, which opens their minds up to one another. It also scars permanently, leaving a mark to warn others off. They can speak telepathically over much larger distances, even the distances between the stars, and if one dies, the other will also die, though they often survive long enough to take out the killer of their mate." 

"It's similar, no doubt, but a life-bond is totally involuntary." 

"So is a natural bond. The formal bonding ceremony just enhances it. Natural bonds are extremely rare, though. It's probably the same thing as your life-bond. My parents were naturally bonded, and let me tell you, that is one interesting relationship. They're the two most stubborn people I know, and they fight a lot, but I think they do it because they enjoy it. Dad likes it that she'll never back down, likes the challenge of a verbal battle just as much as a physical one. And Mom likes actually having a challenge. Before she met Dad, she never knew anyone who could put up an intelligent fight. They rarely let it come between them, though when they do, I like to be anywhere but there." 

Jenfa chuckled. "Sounds like a fun household." 

As they crested the next ridge, the capital city came into view, stopping their conversation. The city was not the largest urban center he had ever seen. West Capital, back on Earth, was easily seven times as big, and the buildings of Haven were rarely even three stories high, where he was used to seeing skyscrapers and needle towers with bubble domes at their tops. _(A/N: For reference, let's just say that West Capital is about the size of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.)_ But this was a pre-industrial civilization. He didn't think they even had steam power yet, though they might be experimenting with it. So the size of this place was amazing, and it was all built of wood and stone, rather than steel and concrete. 

Trunks was suddenly glad that they had made him wait to come to this place. It wasn't the size that was bothering him, nor the numbers of people, precisely. It was 214 thousand conciousnesses beating against his shields. He had felt a bit of a buzz for several miles, but the city was set in a depression, and the land itself had been blocking some of the mental noise. Now that they were past the ridge, the noise was magnified, and they weren't even within the city walls. He grimaced and ruthlessly tightened his shields, thankful when the din quieted. He looked at Jenfa, knowing that she was a powerful Mindspeaker herself, and said, "How can you stand that? And how am I going to be able to?" 

Jenfa grinned, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Don't worry. The palace is very well shielded. And if that's not enough, I'm sure we can get some one to turn your quarters into a workroom. Those shields are so tight that even physical sound is muffled." 

Suddenly another voice inserted itself into their conversation. _TRUNKS!!_

Trunks flinched at the volume. _Goten! Quiet down, buddy! My head still hurts sometimes._

_Oops! Sorry, Trunks. Hey, you're almost here, aren't you?_ At the affirmative, Goten continued, _Tanitha woke up and she wants to meet you. She's really cool, Trunks! She has this thing they call the Bardic Gift that lets you FEEL what ever music she's playing. She has a really pretty voice, too! Oh, and they've been letting me hunt every day, since they couldn't keep enough food, so I hunt for myself and for the kitchen. Maybe you'll get to help me do some of that!_

Trunks chuckled at his childhood friend's incessant chatter. _Maybe. Hey, why don't you tell whoever needs to know that we're nearly there. Have you managed to learn any of the language yet?_

_Not really, other than enough to ask where to put the food I bring into the kitchen. I bet you've already managed to figure out the whole thing._

_Pretty much. I'll help you with it._

_Great! Hey, I'll see you when you get here. Tell Jenfa and Phebe and Itan hi for me!_

_Sure. See you in a bit._

Jenfa said, "I take it that was Goten? Did think he wasn't loud enough?" 

The lavender-haired young man just laughed. "You never know with that guy. Anyway, he said to say 'hi.' I think he forgot you could hear him. Back home, it was only Saiyans who could, so he'll probably have to keep reminding himself for a while." They talked companionably as they rode into the city, but as they neared the first gate, all conversation stopped, as Trunks was too busy trying to pretend to be an owl in order to look at everything at once to be able to make sensible conversation. 

The gates were not the beginning of the city. Outside it for nearly half a mile down the road were vendors trying to hoc everything imaginable, from trinkets and jewelry, to food and clothing, to seed, livestock and saddlery. There was one section of the massive bazaar that contained a fair of sorts, complete with charlatan fortune tellers, nubile costumed dancers, acrobats, sword swollowers, fire eaters and a set of conjoined twins that had the odd distinction of being built like a two-headed centaur. They were very muscular girls and would actually give rides to children for free, and while they weren't as fast as a true equine, they could reach a respectable speed when imitating the movements of one. For effect, their costume included a false tail, obvious to anyone that it was made of donkey tail-hairs. 

Trunks himself drew a small crowd because of his hair. The genetic anomaly that he'd inherited from his mother's family drew looks from people who had come to see the twins. When they had finally gotten through the bazaar, he had to laugh. Jenfa looked at him strangely. "It's just that, while this particular color is rare at home, the weird colors are actually fairly common. Pink, blue, green; you never know what you'll see on the street. My mom's hair is aqua marine. But here, it seems, that's not the case, so I'm getting these weird looks, and I can only guess what they'd be thinking if they knew the whole story. I laugh, because I can just see their faces if they knew that." 

They traveled through the gates of the city, welcomed enthusiastically by the blue clad guards who watched the road, and continued inward until finally reaching the Palace-Collegium complex. As they passed the impressive outer wall, they were attacked by enthusiastic people, well wishers, and other Heralds. Then Goten came flying out of a window in one of the upper turrets yelling "TRUNKS!!" 

The lavender-haired young man snickered and shot in a private aside to Itan, _At least this time he used his voice._ "Goten! Get down here!" He was headed for the stables to get Itan taken care of. 

Itan said, _Don't worry about me. I know my way there. You're about to get stuck in paper work and such. They have to do a lot to get you settled on the first day._

Trunks made a face at his equine friend. _Not that you'll enjoy seeing me bogged down in red tape._

(innocently) _Of course not!_

He chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? I mean I can handle the paper work. I've been dealing with a huge company for two years, and the paper involved in that job was staggering. But I remember the treatment you got at that one inn we stayed in." 

Itan's voice colored in a smile. _Don't worry about that. The stables here have been dealing with Companions for close to a thousand years. They know how to treat us. They'll send your things to your quarters as soon as it's known where they are._ The Companion paused. _Um, Goten's about to tackle you. He thinks you're not paying any attention to him._

_I know. He's suppressing his power level just a bit. He always does that when he's trying to be sneaky. Care to watch? He won't do it if you're in the way. You might get hurt if he did, but as soon as you're out of the line of fire he'll pounce._

_This should be entertaining._ Itan moved off toward the stables, just like he had said he would, but he kept his head turned so he could watch the upcoming spectacle. 

Sure enough, as soon as the Companion was out of the way, Goten's power flared for just a moment and he launched himself at his friend, but Trunks leapt out of the way easily. The younger man pouted, but then a broad grin broke out on his face. "(I never could pull one over on you, Trunks. How've you been? They told me I had to leave you alone until you got here.)" They continued to walk, Jenfa leading Trunks to the Dean's office and projecting laughter at him as on the whole way, Goten continued to talk his ear off, having missed him greatly. By the time they reached the office, Trunks knew everything that had happened to his friend while they were separated. 

* * *

_A/N: Spot a goof? Tell me, please._


	7. Settling In

_Disclaimer: I don't own either DBZ, Valdemar, or the venison stew recipe. They are owned, respectively, by Akira Toriyama, Mercedes Lackey, and Emeril Lagasse, as well as their respective publishers, etc... (*said as Bugs Bunny* Wordy, ain't it?) _

A/N: Thanks to Bobbin for reminding me about Goten, but I warn you, he will soon fade into the background for a while. The story is more about Trunks than Goten, though he will still play a heavy part later in the plot. Also, Herald Kila, my true friend (she said with a mischievous grin), the scene after the recipe is dedicated to you and Sparky. May you live to try and kill me for it! ^_^ (And I decided to go ahead and change things to match RL in the4 revision. It's just too wierd to think of you with anyone but him.) 

_______________________  
CHAPTER 6: SETTLING IN  
_______________________ 

Goten left Trunks at Dean Elcarth's office. He needed to go hunting for lunch and dinner and he would have to get enough for himself and Trunks both. He headed off to find his hunting partner, Mikal, a young Herald who was in Haven for a while after completing his initial journey period. 

Herald Kila had introduced them not long after he arrived in Haven. She and Mikal were year-mates and had been friends ever since they met in their first classes. It had only taken the pair a year to fall in love, but neither one had acknowledged it quickly, though they were now married. The two men had become friends fairly easily, using Mikal's Companion, Loki, as a translator since he didn't have Mindspeech, and ever since he had accompanied Goten when he was hunting for food. 

Goten had to hunt. There was no way that the usual portions handed out in the dining room would even dent a Saiyan's appetite, so he had volunteered for hunting duty as long as he got to keep as much meat as he needed for himself. He was shown where it was all right for him to hunt, and he tried to move around quite a bit so that he wouldn't drive the game out in any area. He was fast enough that his scent wasn't left at the sight of a kill, and he never wasted any of what he killed. 

Trunks couldn't cook to save his life, much like his mother, but to the surprise of everyone in both their families, Goten had inherited his mother's culinary talents and cooked his own meals and anyone else's who wished to sample his work. Goten had actually been admitted into the Collegium, though he had nothing to pay for his education with, so he helped a lot around the Palace with any work that needed doing. The cook dragooned him at least once a week to help in the kitchen because of his evident skill in that area and his uncanny ability to identify every ingredient in a particular dish by scent. He could quote off a recipe by eating one bite, as long as he had experience with everything in the food, and if there was something he couldn't identify, he would bug the cook until he found out what it was. In most academics, Goten was a total loss, but that was because he found the subjects boring. He didn't care about history that much, or math, or science, but he had the ability to pick up on anything he _was_ interested in with frightening speed, accuracy and retention, just like his brother, Gohan. He had learned some of the Valdemaran language in the kitchen just from learning the names of certain things in the recipes. 

This day, he met Mikal, nicknamed Sparky for some reason, in Companions' Field. They were heading out with several others to get enough meat for the Collegium for the week and for the Court tonight, as well as him and Trunks. Upon landing in the field, Goten heard Loki in his mind. _Goten, Mikal wants to know if your other friend has arrived yet._

Goten grinned broadly and bobbed his head. _Yep! Trunks is with the Dean right now. Maybe now that he's here, he'll help me learn the language. I'm really not very good at that sort of thing._

* * *

Trunks sat in a chair in the office. The situation, while very similar to every other meeting he'd had with deans to the three universities he had already attended, was completely unique because this stint of education would truly change his life. He had graduated from each of those universities, West Capital, New York, and Japan, with some form of business degree, and he'd had no trouble taking the courses on-line simultaneously. He had easily gotten on good terms with the Deans of all three institutions and later with the CEOs of several of the leading scientific firms in the world. No, it wasn't the Dean himself that made Trunks nervous. It was the situation he was getting into and the extreme commitment that he would be training for. This was for life. 

It was mere minutes before Dean Elcarth came into the room. He was an old man, one of those few Heralds lucky enough to survive into extreme old age. He was still spry, however, and he walked without a cane. He was in Whites that still fit him well, showing his still-muscled form. 

He reached out a hand to the lavender-haired young man sitting across from him. Trunks took it in a firm grip that was none the less gentle enough not to harm him. "I am Elcarth, Dean of the Heraldic Collegium." 

"Trunks Briefs." 

"I want you to know a few things before we get started. Normally, a Trainee is Chosen in their early teens when the onset of puberty awakens their Gifts, though there have certainly been exceptions. You will be the oldest Trainee in your year group. Also, we'll need to test you, both in Gifts and in knowledge so that we know what classes to put you in. From what your friend, Goten, has told us, you will probably excel in the academics, and we'll just have to see about the training of your Gifts. We will also want to know about you, where you come from, what your background is and the like. If you don't want the rest of the Trainees or any one else to know those facts, you have only to tell us and we'll keep it as quiet as possible, but what is known of your story has already been in the rumor mills for weeks, and by now is properly distorted out of all recognition." 

"Well," said Trunks, "the reality is probably stranger than anything rumor can come up with." 

Elcarth snorted with amusement, nodding his head in agreement. "It usually is. Any road, the Queen would like a demonstration of the abilities you used the day you came through the Gate as soon as you're settled in. She is curious as to their nature and weather or not they can be used by others or if they are merely inherent in you and Goten." 

"Well the answer is kind of both. Every living being has ki. You call it personal energy. It's merely a matter of training and discipline to be able to use it, at least to a degree. However, Goten, myself, and the rest of the Saiyan race, what's left of it, have very high base kis, the amount of power we would naturally have without any training. For instance, my sister, Bra, has a power level about equal with Itan's and she was never interested in training. Dad made her learn self-defense, but other than that, she's not a fighter at all. But she's still a Saiyan and so she has a fairly respectable amount of power. Now, as far as I have been able to tell from what Jenfa has told me about your training methods, Heralds use ki, but they don't train to use it offensively. They only use it to power their Gifts. We focus our ki through the martial arts, through our physical bodies, at least mostly. That's why we don't ground. The power isn't in our minds, it's in our bodies, and if we were to ground that, we wouldn't be able to move quickly in a fight. Believe me, there have been times in my life where speed has been essential to staying alive." 

Elcarth took a moment to absorb all that the young man had just told him. The technique was definitely different than anything he had ever come in contact with, but all that he had said made sense. If you were moving at great speed then you would constantly have to be moving your ground and if you were fighting at the time, it could be a deadly loss of concentration. He said quietly, "I can actually see why. I've seen Goten flying, and he moves very quickly, even when he's not really in a hurry, and if you're fighting at that kind of speed- Well I see the point. However, that's something that can be addressed later when you start your Gift Training. For now, let's just get you settled in. We'll be testing you tomorrow on all levels, academic, physical and Gift, but not today. Dinner will be soon, so I'll let you go. Goten's in the kitchen tonight, and I don't plan on missing his cooking. There's a separate table for you and him because of the appetite he's displayed." The old Herald grinned. "If the boy didn't hunt for the entire Palace, I think the cooks would have killed him despite his skills with food!" 

Trunks gave an answering grin. "I understand. My mother gave up long ago trying to cook for my father and I and hired two full-time chefs, mostly because not one of us should be allowed near food other than to eat it. Mom can't cook toast, Dad never bothered to learn, and I can burn water!" 

* * *

Goten and the other hunters had returned with seven stags of highly respectable size, four of which had been killed by him. There would be plenty of meat for the night, and he already knew what he was going to do with it. Though he had inherited his cooking skill from his mother, he was more than willing to try recipes from other sources. The Food Network channel on TV had given him some of his better ones, and one of them was Emeril Lagasse's venison and wild mushroom stew. 

_(Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2000, foodtv.com) _

6 strips bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces  
2 pounds venison shoulder, excess fat removed, cut into 1-inch cubes  
Salt  
Black pepper  
1/4 cup flour  
1/4 cup vegetable oil  
1 cup dry red wine  
1 large onion, diced  
1 large carrot, peeled and diced  
2 ribs celery, diced  
1 large parsnip, peeled and diced  
1 leek, white only, diced  
2 teaspoons minced garlic  
1 pound mixed wild mushrooms, such as wood ear, chanterelle, morel, or shiitake, sliced  
1 12 ounce bottle amber beer  
21/2 quarts veal or beef stock  
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce  
6 sprigs fresh thyme  
1 teaspoon allspice  
3 bay leaves  
2 tablespoons tomato paste  
2 baking potatoes, like russets, peeled and cubed  
1 pound cooked egg noodles 

In a large stockpot cook the bacon over high heat until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. Season the venison with salt and pepper, and then lightly dust with flour. Add the oil to the pot and sear the venison on all sides over medium high heat. Remove the meat from the pot and add any remaining flour, stirring constantly. Deglaze the pot with the red wine, scraping with a wooden spoon. 

Add the onions and cook over medium high heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and parsnips and sauti for 2 minutes, then add the leeks and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook until they release their moisture, about 5 - 7 minutes. Add the beer and scrape to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, then add the veal stock, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, allspice, bay leaves and tomato paste. Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the meat is tender and the stock is reduced, about 1= hours. Add the potatoes to the pot and continue cooking until they are cooked through, about 20-30 minutes. Season to taste and serve with egg noodles tossed with butter. 

Yield: 6 servings  
Prep Time: 2 hours 45 minutes  
Cook Time: 30 minutes 

Of course, Goten would be making a lot more than that, and there were a few ingredients that he would have to make substitution on. He had discovered that celery could not be found in Valdemar, imported or otherwise, though he had found a strange root that tasted similar enough to use, and he would have to use the mushrooms that grew locally in the woods around the Palace grounds. He had also had to find a suitable wine and beer for the recipe, which had resulted in Sparky and Kila's old friend, Jeshua, getting drunk with him three nights in a row last week. When the reason for their small insanity had been discovered, Kila had threatened them all with murder if they ever tried anything like that again. To which he had gaily replied, still a little drunk, that he had already sampled every wine and ale in Haven, so she had nothing to worry about. 

Goten was going to use all of the meat from six of the animals to make enough stew for himself, Trunks, and the rest of the Collegium and Court, as well as supervising the creation of the salad dressing for the greens and the massive amounts of egg noodles that he would need. He loved being in the kitchen, and he'd had great fun experimenting in the huge pre-industrial setup that served the Palace-Collegium complex. Chichi had always wanted him to become a chef and create his own restaurant, but he didn't want to be _stuck_ in the kitchen for the rest of his life. He cooked for fun, but he was still Saiyan. He still yearned for the challenge of battle and the mental exercise of strategy. It was in his blood, a fact which his mother had eventually come to accept, even though she wanted something more for her son than the life of a warrior. 

Goten thought that in coming to Valdemar he had found the answer to that problem, though it saddened him to realize that the dear woman would never be able to see him become successful as she had wished. He planned to join the Guard once he had learned enough of the language to be serviceable. He would probably advance easily, he would certainly be an asset to the Guard, and once he reached high enough, he would have the responsible normality that his mother had always craved for him while still getting what he wanted. 

Joining the army at home would never have been feasible for him. In a world that could not accept that anyone other than Mr. Satan had defeated Cell, acceptance of ki techniques would never happen, being thrown off as simple tricks and nonsense. They favored technology to the martial arts, anyway, and would have merely stuck him behind a rifle and told him to get in line. The Guard were different. They were used to Heralds, to the concepts of magic and mind-magic _(A/N: the mental Gifts. There is mind-magic and true magic. That's for those of you who might not know the series.)_ and while they would marvel at his strength, they would not ostracize him for it. 

However, that was all a consideration for another time. He had a major bit of work ahead of him with tonight's meal, and he was well aware that it wouldn't take too long for things to get out of hand if he wasn't prepared for it. 

* * *

Jenfa showed Trunks around the Collegium, making sure that he wouldn't get lost while looking for the lavatories or the men's bath and showing him where things were, like the stables, his quarters, Companion's field, and the dining hall. 

Trunks spent about an hour getting ready for dinner, going first to the baths to get rid of the trail dust that had seeped through his clothing, then pulling his hair back, tying what he could with an elastic band at the nape of his neck. _(A/N: Like Mirai Trunks after he got out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.)_ He dressed in a business suit from the capsules he'd had in his jeans pocket when he and Goten had come through the Gate, the one he had been wearing to work that day. He knew that it would probably be a fashion shock to the rest of the diners, other than Goten, but it was the nicest thing in his possession, and as he understood it, this would be the last time he had occasion to wear the thing before he was thrown into Trainee Grays. 

Walking into the dining room was like nothing he had ever done before in his life. There were people from every age group, some dressed in Grays, some in Whites, some in the uniforms of other Circles, Bardic Browns and Scarlets, Healer Lights and Greens, and quite a smattering of student Blues as well. Some were in normal clothing (for Valdemar) and there were a few men in the darker blue uniforms of the Guard, but these were greatly out-numbered by the other uniforms in the room. Trunks felt greatly out of place, but he was used to dealing with strange and huge groups of people from learning how to run Capsule from his mother. His face easily slipped into its accustomed mask, a pleasant expression that allowed no one to actually see what he was thinking. 

He noticed Jenfa sitting at one of the tables and moved to sit next to her. There were several other people there, all either dressed in Whites or casual clothing, and they all seemed to be in deep conversation with her. He cleared his throat and said, "Do you mind if I join you?" 

She looked up and smiled, an expression that made something inside of him flutter. He frowned inwardly, not allowing the expression to show. What was that? Why was he reacting to her like this? She said, "No, that's fine. We were kind of hoping you'd show up. I like this suit of yours. It's a lot different than anything I've ever seen." 

He smirked a little. "Well, it _is_ from a different planet. So what conversation did I interrupt? Nothing too important, I hope." 

"Not really. Trunks, these are some of my closer friends in the Circle. This is Mikal, who's Kila's husband, Jeshua, and that last is Jordin, Tanitha's life-bonded. And this is Trunks Briefs, soon to be our newest Trainee! We were all going over some old memories, mostly of when we all got started at the Collegium. For one, I remember how Mikal got the nickname 'Sparky.'" 

Trunks raised an eyebrow. That nickname reminded him of the mascot of some American electrical company in Texas and the surrounding states. Sparky the Safety Mouse. _(A/N: Hey, Ki, you knew I'd find some way to worm the truth in!)_

Kila said, "Hey, I get to tell this story!" 

Mikal, a fairly young man with light brown hair, beard, and eyes, which he rolled expressively, said, "Lord and Lady! Can't you two leave that old yarn in the dust?" 

The Foreseer just grinned at him. "Of course not! One of the simple pleasures in life is torturing your friends and loved ones! Now, Sparky's a mage, and when he was first Chosen he didn't have that much control over his Gift. He has an affinity for lightning, as well, which just made the situation worse. Anyway, he was very shy, a condition that I think I've gotten him over, and several of the unaffiliated students, the Blues, decided to play some pranks on him. Now these weren't as bad as some of the things that such students have done in the past, but at the time it only took the least little thing to set him off. Things were coming to a head, and finally the leader of their little group did something stupid. To embarrass him in front of the entire dining hall, they snuck up behind him and yanked down his pants!" Trunks put his hand over his mouth to smother his sudden laugh. "Yeah, he was so shocked that his Gift went nuts, making little bits of lightning shoot off everywhere. If Lady Elspeth hadn't been in the room, he could have caused some severe damage, but she was able to shield him just in time. From then on, the nickname just stuck!" 

At that moment, the food started being served, but Trunks decided that he would tell these people some of the pranks that he and Goten had pulled when they were little, like the time they had packed the showerhead in his parent's bedroom with coffee filters full of Koolaid, or when they had knocked out Mighty Mask to sneak into the adult section of the World Martial Arts Tournament. They had truly been evil little pranksters. But he would wait to tell them until he had Goten there to share the moments. Which reminded him, "Where is Goten, anyway? Dean Elcarth mentioned that he was in the kitchen?" 

Jenfa nodded. "That's why the dining hall is so full this evening. No one want's to miss his cooking! I heard that it's venison stew of some kind." 

Trunks' mouth was suddenly watering. "The one with the mushrooms? Oh, yes! I live that stuff! Will he get a chance to come out here, or is he going to have to eat in the kitchen?" 

Kila said, "No, they set up a special table for him because of the sheer amount he can eat. May I assume you're just as bad?" Trunks grinned. "Then you should probably join him at the head of the table. I'd join you, but I'd be afraid to loose my own plate by accident!" 

* * *

Trunks and Goten stood out in the Companions' Field after dinner was done, just talking. Goten had told him of his plans to join the Guard, and his reasoning, and Trunks had introduced him to Itan. They stood there in the full moonlight, a moon that was far larger than the one on Earth that neither of the demi-Saiyans had ever seen. They both felt it's pull, though since neither had a tail, it wasn't a problem. They thought of their homeworld and all that they were never likely to see again, their families, their friends. Goten would never see his mother or father, his brother and sister-in-law, or is niece, and Trunks would never see his father, mother or sister. They would never see Piccolo or Dende, Krillin, 18, Marron, Yamcha, Tien, Chaotzu or anyone else. Goten even imagined that he might miss that dip-wit, Mr. Satan after a while. But they had no way to return. Tanitha was the only one who knew how to open that kind of Gate, one that didn't use her own personal energy to fuel it, and she was incapacitated, at least for now, and she just might be traumatized so badly that she'd never be able to do it again. 

Of course, even if the Gate were somehow opened again, Trunks would never be able to leave. He was linked to the land and the people of Valdemar now, and he would never be able to leave for that long. He might be able to visit if someone were to open such a Gate. He'd be worthless for an hour, but he could still visit with his family. 

Moot point, of course. It would not be very likely to happen, even if Tanitha made a full recovery. After all, what if the accident could never be recreated? 

* * *

_A/N: Well that's the end of the revisions. Remember to tell me if you find a mistake._


End file.
